NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Berkshire Hathaway was yesterday poised to close above $150,000 for the first time, boosted by investments outside the US and speculation chairman Warren Buffett sidestepped credit losses in US financial markets.

The company's Class A shares climbed for the twelth time in 13 days and have risen more than 36 percent since August 15, a period in which the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 8.1 percent. Berkshire said on November 2 that third-quarter profit increased 64 percent on an eight-fold gain from a stake in PetroChina. Buffett began selling shares of China's largest oil producer in July as oil prices rallied to records.

Berkshire, which hasn't split since Buffett took control in 1965, advanced as high as $151,650, the most ever and 98 times the next highest-priced stock on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stock Market or American Stock Exchange, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"The more chaos there is in financial markets, the better it is for Warren Buffett," said Whitney Tilson, managing partner at T2 Partners LLC in New York and a Berkshire shareholder for 10 years. "He has the world's strongest balance sheet, and he is willing and able to provide capital on short notice, but on his terms."

Berkshire climbed $2,200, or 1.5 percent, to $151,400 at lunchtime in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The second-highest priced stock in the US after Berkshire is Seaboard Corporation, which closed yesterday at $1,520 a share.

Buffett, 77 and the third-richest person in the world according to Forbes Magazine, last month bought $2.1 billion of high-yielding bonds issued by TXU Corporation to finance its buyout led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for 93 cents and 95 cents on the dollar, the Wall Street Journal reported December 4.

The proceeds will be used to pay down bridge loans made by banks to finance the deal, the paper said. The $32 billion buyout, the largest US transaction of its kind, was completed October 11. TXU and more than 50 other companies had to delay or rework high-yield bond sales from July through September after losses in subprime-mortgage backed debt made investors unwilling to participate.

Berkshire more than tripled investors' money in the 10 years through the end of November, compared with a return of 82 percent from the S&P 500. Its 10 biggest investments as of September 30 included Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Posco and Tesco.

Coca-Cola, the world's biggest soda maker, traded yesterday at a nearly eight-year high of $63.73. Procter & Gamble, the largest US consumer products company, traded at an all-time high of $74.53. Korean steelmaker Posco rose to a record in October, while Tesco, the UK's largest retailer, hit an all-time high in November.

Buffett increased his stake in home lenders US Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. during the quarter. Berkshire became the largest shareholder in US Bancorp, the sixth-largest US bank, and remains the top investor in Wells Fargo, the second-largest mortgage lender. Both have fallen this year as foreclosures set a record in the second quarter and overdue payments on subprime loans reached a five-year high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Tilson said the Class A shares have an "intrinsic value" of $167,000, in part because the most recent hurricane season was benign, holding down costs for Berkshire's insurance units.

"People are realising earnings are going to be astronomical this quarter," he said.